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Topic: Me and my little buddy (Read 2698 times)

Youth waterfowling weekend, Florida, 2009. Under 16 can shoot, I cannot. To ease the passing of the season, I figured just being on the water seeing birds fall was better than sleeping. So I rounded up a youngun and threw him in my boat and guided him to my best woodie hole. It was the most beautiful day on the lakes this year! The fog and crisp, but not inhospitable weather, and clean sunrise just made the lake glow like God was smiling upon us. I was a tad late, and we weren't even in position, much less with a deke spread by 10 minutes after shooting light. Luckily, the fog kept the ducks from flying and we only missed one pair due to unpreparedness. The ducks came by the mass. A constant stream for 30 minutes died down to a trickle for the first 45 minutes of the hunt. There was not even a moment for my buddy to cover up our yellow-handled paddles as he was reloading at all spare moments. He managed to knock his first wood duck(an awsome semi-mature drake) as it flew directly overhead and I thought he had finally learned the lead and would easily knock 2 more to limit out. Then the rignecks started flying in and out of the fog like I've never seen before. If I were hunting I would have stayed all day in the middle of the lake until I got one of the 25 duck flocks to decoy in. I managed to to turn a few flocks and get high fly overs, but I couldn't call any into commiting to the shoreline we were set up on. My buddy didn't wish to pursue the more elusive birds all morning as he was so hyped up about the lone bird he managed to crumple and fell right over our heads. I tell you, the ringnecks aren't dumb, they know when the main season has ended. Anyways, it was an amazing morning, even though he shot worse than I would and tried to shoot a guy 400 yards away on the other side of the lake(even though he wasn't in danger, it's still nice to not drop shot just outside of their spreads). Hopefully the ringers will come back next year, and may the wood duck population increase 3 fold again this year! I think he's pretty well hooked on waterfowling now and can give up his delusions of gobbler grandeur

See now TF, you actually had me believing the story until you said that.

Anyway, cudos to you for taking a young'un out hunting with you. They're the future of the sport. Just wait until you have a little one of your own to get out there with you. It adds a whole new dimension to hunting, one that you had never even dreamed of.

Ride on down here and I'll guide you to a limit of woodies if it is to be had anywhere in this county-free 'o charge. I'd prefer to shoot 6 bufflehead in the bay, though, if that is ok with you.

Yeah, I noted the other hunters but didn't realy bother/remember to tell him where they were hidden since they were sufficiently out of range. He just didn't know they were in the grass way over yonder.

As for hunting with younguns who are related to me...I think I prefer the neighbor kids. They are easier to handle only once a week/month rather than 24/7!

And my shotgunning has gotten amazingly better(so I thought until I missed a running squirrel on saturday) I told you I shot 10 last weekend, no? But maybe that part of the story was just the lying fisherman in me sneaking out.